Jack Countryman - Something Beautiful for Mother

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Something Beautiful for
Mother

Something Beautiful for Mother

2012 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Devotions are adapted from Women of Faith Devotional Bible 2010 by Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4003-1968-8
ISBN-13: 978-1-4003-1967-1 (with display)

Printed in Mexico

12 13 14 15 16 QUAD 5 4 3 2 1

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CONTENTS

G od has designed a mothers life to be filled with the joy of His presence. When God looks at you, He sees only beauty. He has blessed you with the precious gift of a child. The devotions within this book include Scripture and the writings of twenty-six women who have devoted themselves to living and writing for the glory of God. This book addresses twelve gifts God showers on every mother such as His love, peace, grace, forgiveness, and truth that are essential to your daily walk with Him.

Our hope is that your heart will be touched and your eyes opened by the Savior who loves you with an everlasting love. Allow God to use His words to change your life and inspire your soul.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
but a woman who fears the LORD,
she shall be praised.

PROVERBS 31:30

READ 2 CHRONICLES 16:710.

The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout
the whole earth, to show Himself strong on
behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.

2 CHRONICLES 16:9

O ne of the most common responses my freshmen college students experienced each fall was eagerness to escape the watchful eyes of their parents. To these students, leaving home and moving into a dormitory with other young freedom seekers was a dream come true. In contrast was the little boy who, after wandering from his mothers side, soon found himself in the toy department. His mother rushed over to him. Bryan, Ive been frantic. I had no idea where you were!

Unperturbed, he looked up and said sweetly, But, Mama, you always know where I am. See, youre right here beside me.

For those of us who wander into the toy department and hope not to be discovered, remember that God views us through the lens of grace. That grace seeks to protect us as well as love us.

Marilyn Meberg

READ GALATIANS 5:115.

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty;
only do not use liberty as an opportunity for
the flesh, but through love serve one another.

GALATIANS 5:13

M any years ago I learned what it means to be free. Until I went to college, my family had attended a denominational, legalistic church that preached performance. Everything about it encouraged conformity, compliance, and criticism toward those who did not follow the rules.

While I was away at college, Mother and Daddy changed churches, and upon my first visit, I began to learn the meaning of big biblical words like predestination, justification, and sanctification and how the truth of those meanings work in little words like peace, grace, and freedom.

This free life in Christ permits us to accept and love others just as they are. Not only that, but it encourages us to serve people we dont even know. It can take us to a mission field on the other side of the world or down a dormitory hallway to help someone in need.

Luci Swindoll

READ 1 PETER 3:15.

Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts,
and always be ready to give a defense
to everyone who asks you a reason
for the hope that is in you.

1 PETER 3:15

I ll never forget the time I prayed about whether or not we could adopt a child. In His unmistakable voice, the Lord gave me Proverbs 13:12 as a promise: When the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Not if, but when! I rested in the hope that God would send us the right child at the right time.

A friend later asked me how I could have such confident hope. I dont know if my faith is that big, she said.

The size of my faith doesnt matter, I answered. Im confident in the size of my God.

Angela Elwell Hunt

READ JEREMIAH 15:1518.

Your words were found, and I ate
them, and Your word was to me the joy
and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called
by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.

JEREMIAH 15:16

W hen my children were young, they would head straight for the kitchen after walking in the door from school. The work and stress of the day seemed to melt away with one glance at a plate of cookies waiting on the counter.

Jeremiah wrote about similar appetites. He also headed to the kitchen to eat to consume or devourGods Word. We, too, will know we are walking closely with Him when we find childlike joy in feasting daily, not only on Scripture but also on the knowledge that Someone knows and loves us so much that He leaves us plates of goodies.

Lynda Hunter Bjorklund

READ 1 PETER 1:69.

In this you greatly rejoice... that the
genuineness of your faith, being much more
precious than gold that perishes, though it is
tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor,
and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 PETER 1:67

W hen gold is refined, it is a fiery process that separates what is true from the flaws and impurities that have become one with it. The process is faithful, but it is temporary. We are called to more. We are impressed with gold and fine jewels, but God is blessed by faith that has come through fire hot enough to burn away what cannot last in His kingdom. At times we are so blistered by the blaze that it seems no good can come out of this fire. In those moments, we must hold on by faith to what we know is true. When we cling to Jesus at the height of the inferno, we will see when the furnace has cooled that what is left is faithpure, genuine, and honoring to Christ.

Sheila Walsh

READ DEUTERONOMY 10:1215.

What does the Lord your God require
of you, but to fear the Lord your God,
to walk in all His ways and to love Him,
to serve the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul?

DEUTERONOMY 10:12

W hen I met my husband, Dave, I liked him. As I spent time with him, I got to know him more and more. We talked, laughed, and even cried together, and I realized my like had turned into love, and I couldnt get enough of him.

When God surveys our love for Him, I wonder what He sees. Does He find us being in like with Him only? Is He sorrowful for what He knows our relationship could be but isnt because of the absence of time together? Is He sad when we talk and laugh and cry only with others? Does He weep when we let the fire of our love grow cold?